More than 200 concerned landowners attended an open house in Cochrane on Jan. 28 to learn more about the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1) project, which was approved in Sept. 2014 to provide flood protection to Calgary and neighboring communities.
“There’s a lot of good information, but I’m not sure I feel optimistic about it,” said Dick Koetsier, who lost his home in Bragg Creek during the 2013 flood. “It seems like the government is determined that this is the way they want to go.”
The proposed $250 million reservoir would be located south of Highway 1, east of Highway 22, and north of Highway 8 – requiring Springbank Road to be rerouted. During a flood, excess water would be diverted from the Elbow River through a canal, and would remain in the reservoir until it could be released back into the river in a controlled manner.
Area residents have been voicing their opposition to this plan, which, according to Jason Penner, public affairs officer with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD), would cause “a number” of people to be displaced.
“It’s entirely on private land, and requires the government to buy thousands and thousands of acres – and when there are other options available, it just doesn’t make sense,” said Ryan Robinson, spokesperson for the DontDamnSpringbank group who has been fighting the project since it was announced by Premier Jim Prentice.
According to Robinson, the group supports another option still under consideration by AESRD. A dam at the confluence of McLean Creek and the Elbow River would, said Robinson, provide protection to communities like Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows, which would not benefit from a reservoir located further downstream.
“Every project we consider has some sort of trade-off, whether that is environmental, cost, or displacing landowners,” said Penner.
“There is no perfect solution, but (SR1) was deemed to be the best option.”
While a final report has not been submitted, a three-month study of the environmental issues with the McLean Creek project identified “legitimate concerns,” according to Penner. AESRD is still examining the potential for a dam at the McLean Creek location, but Penner said SR1 has been approved as the number one priority for flood mitigation in the area.
“The impact of an on-stream reservoir is a little more serious, since you are essentially blocking off the river,” Penner said.
“Since (SR1) is more environmentally friendly, it’s a bit simpler from an engineering point of view, which leads to a quicker delivery timeline and lower costs.”
Penner added Stantec has been hired to do the environmental impact assessment, as well as the engineering and design work on the SR1 project. Construction is expected to begin next year, and should be completed by 2018.
“This is a multi-year project and we are just getting going,” he said.
“By doing an open house like this, we can identify what people are thinking, what they don’t like, and what they want to know more about, so we can start addressing that right away.”
Robinson and Koetsier plan to continue fighting the project, through groups like DontDamnSpringbank and Koetsier’s recently formed DamMcLean. Koetsier has also started a petition for those who are in support of Elbow River flood mitigation and would like the government to reconsider McLean Creek, with nearly 350 signatures in only four weeks.
“We’ve been patiently waiting for something good to happen, and sadly, this Springbank reservoir doesn’t do anything for us,” he said.
“I know (AESRD) want to make sure all the people in Calgary are happy, but I want to let them know there is still a significant amount of people who are unhappy.”
